Antenatal care
Ensure that every pregnant woman has adequate antenatal care. This includes having at least four antenatal visits with an appropriate health care provider and receiving the recommended doses of the tetanus toxoid vaccination. The mother also needs support from her family and community in seeking care at the time of delivery and during the postpartum and lactation period.
Maternal health affects child health; maternal nutrition has an effect on child’s birth weight and mortality.
To underline the effects of maternal health on child health, “Family and community practices that promote child survival, growth and development – A review of the evidence” reports also the findings of a study in Yemen where a high proportion of infants—almost two thirds—died within a year of their mothers’ death.
Lower rates of use of antenatal care have been related to women’s residence (rural), education (low), age (young), socio-economic status (low), parity (high), no history of obstetric complications, access (low), perception of quality of care (low), and a few other factors (The Review).
Examples of antenatal care elements potentially having an impact on child health include tetanus toxoid vaccination—two doses in pregnancies significantly protect against neonatal tetanus and reduce deaths, iron and folic acid supplementation, intermittent treatment for malaria, home visits for women and children across the continuum of care.
WHO recommendation for a minimum of four “focused” antenatal visits is supported by evidence from a multi-site study that a group of women receiving four antenatal visits did not have increased risks compared with a group receiving a higher number of visits (The Review).
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